LOS ANGELES – Since the last time they fought, both T.J. Dillashaw and Cody Garbrandt entered a new phase in their lives.

Fatherhood, specifically.

Garbrandt’s son was born in March, while Dillashaw’s son entered the world last December.

For both men, becoming a parent has brought on subtle changes to the way they carry themselves both publicly and privately – although some things remain the same.

“I don’t have a dad-bod, that’s for sure,” joked Dillashaw, the UFC’s bantamweight champion. “Life outside the gym has been wonderful. I love coming home and seeing the smile on his face, that means everything, but when I come to the gym, I’m still the same T.J. Dillashaw.”

For Garbrandt, fatherhood seems to have brought about some soul-searching and a change in the way he’s approached the build-up to this weekend’s main event against Dillashaw at UFC 227.

The 27-year-old went all-in on the trash talk in the lead-up to his loss to Dillashaw last November at UFC 217, but has toned it down this time around. There are other reasons for that, of course, but he said the birth of his first child caused him to think about the way he carried himself and the image he put out into the world.

“That’s a lot to do with being a new father, it’s something that I learned from and grow from,” Garbrandt said. “I want my son to look up to me as being a good person, not just a violent, angry person.

“Drama sells, and I just didn’t want to get into that. I had a lot of positive things in my life since the first fight, and I just want to keep growing form that and learning from that.”

While they might not agree on much, Dillashaw and Garbrandt both said that becoming a parent is good for fighters.

Yes, there are a few more sleepless nights and more responsibilities when they’re out of the gym, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing for athletes.

“Having a routine and something I’m used to every day is more beneficial than figuring things out on a daily basis,” Dillashaw said. “The downtime, which I don’t even want, I don’t want to sit around and have downtime, even though life is busier being the champion or fighting in title fights, it’s something I chose. I want to be involved in my kid’s life, I want to be there every second I possibly can be.”

MONCTON GETS A MAIN EVENT

Moncton has its headliner.

On Thursday afternoon, the UFC announced the main event for its October 27 show in New Brunswick and it will pit two light-heavyweight knockout artists against one another when Volkan Oezdemir and Anthony Smith square off.

Oezdemir is coming off a loss to light-heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier earlier this year at UFC 220, but had previously knocked out both Jimi Manuwa and Misha Cirkunov in an impressively quick rise to the top of the 205-pound division.

Smith, meanwhile, has had a crazy summer that’s seen him land first-round TKO victories over former light-heavyweight champions Rashad Evans and Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua.

While neither guy is necessarily the biggest star in the sport right now, it’s conceivable that either one could be a future champion. With current light-heavyweight king Cormier set to retire early next year and Jon Jones still ineligible to compete, a victory in Moncton could be enough to secure a title shot for both Smith and Oezdemir.

In other Canadian MMA news, the UFC announced that fan favourite Elias Theodorou, of Mississauga, Ont., will be taking on Brazilian Antonio Carlos Junior on September 22 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

NO ISSUE WITH CANUCKS

Two of the most memorable victories in Thiago Santos’ career have come against Canadians. He wants everyone to know, though, that he’s got absolutely nothing against anyone from the Great White North.

Back in 2015, the Brazilian delivered an absolutely brutal knockout kick on Steve Bosse.

Later that year, Santos stepped into the octagon with Theodorou, and while the Mississauga native managed to make it to the end of the third round, Santos left him bruised and beaten and with a deep gash on his face.

His propensity for beating up Canadians isn’t personal, though.

“No, no, I have no problem, I love Canada,” Santos said with a big laugh. “Canada is beautiful.”

Santos is set to take on Kevin Holland on Saturday night.

Holland’s not Canadian, though, so at this point it’s anyone’s guess how the fight will go.

NOTES

All eyes are on Conor McGregor at this point. Even around the UFC 227 media day, the main topic of conversation was whether the UFC is going to announce a lightweight title fight between McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov on Friday. Expect a main event announcement for December’s pay-per-view in Toronto, as well … Dana White met with Donald Trump on Wednesday. Do what you will with that information … Colby Covington met the president, as well. Covington is a Grade A troll, if nothing else.

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